The Closest Friend
by Alita
Summary: It's my first fic that I'm posting here... Please read and rieview, it's not my best, but try it out.


  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The Closest Friend  
  
Disclaimer: Okay, DigiMon does not belong to me. Though, If you need a buyer, I got a SEGA Game Gear I want to unload on somebody. I've had the stupid thing for four years and I want to be rid of the cursed thing! This is one of my few stories that is in third person pov. Don't know why, it just is. I guess because I thought it would work better. I've got Shaina Twain on my CD player right now. I'm not a strictly country fan, I like most kinds of music. I won't say what kinds I don't like because if I'm going to get hate mail, I don't want it to be because I said I didn't like someone's favorite kind of music. Now if you like this, e-mail me, if you don't like this, E-mail me anyway. I don't mind flames, just be nice, and don't bite my head off please. Let's begin.  
~~  
Tai stood in front of his group, Sora, Kari, TK, and Izzy. They were arguing on what to do now. TK wanted do check out PuppetMon's mansion because he could show the rest of the kids where it was. Sora said it was too dangerous, and had appealed to Tai, saying he had veto over the vote they had made. Which, by the way, was in TK's favor. Tai couldn't make up his mind, which he found strange. Normally he would have said that they should check out PuppetMon's mansion, but for some reason he hesitated. 'TK's my responsibility, Matt trusted me his safety, something he's never done before. Gosh, now I know what Matt felt like when I asked him to watch over Kari.' Tai thought.  
"C'mon don't you treat me like a baby Tai!" TK said to him.  
"All right, we'll take a look, but if it looks too dangerous, we head back. We fight as little as possible at this point." Tai said. TK could hold his own, Tai supposed, Matt had said so himself. They began following TK into the forest, and Tai had walked only a few steps before he noticed that Sora wasn't following him. He walked back to her wanting to see what was wrong. "What's wrong Sora?"   
"I'm just worried about this plan, I still think it's too dangerous. I also think we should be looking for the Ninth Digi-Destined." The worried look on Sora's face deepened. They had just found out about the last child from that weird being that had 'borrowed' Kari's body for awhile. Geni had dropped her Digi- egg halfway between where he had dropped Gatomon's and File Island. When the kids were transported to the Digi-World she had landed in the same area as her DigiMon. Apart form the rest of the group. Tai didn't even want to think about what it would be like to be taken with no warning to a strange world and be all alone.   
"We'll look for her in the direction of PuppetMon's mansion. Don't worry, Sora, I'll make sure nothing happens to you."  
"Really?" She asked, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Tai nodded back at her. Their eyes locked, and time itself seemed to slow as their heads slowly moved towards one another's. Tai's heart started to beat faster, as well as Sora's. 'Are we going to, are we?' Sora thought. 'We are, I've always hoped that Tai and I would do this. Please, kiss me.' She thought.   
"Hey! Are you guys coming!?" Izzy called. Tai and Sora jumped apart, and time resumed its normal speed.  
~~   
They all stood in front of the large mansion. Tai used his telescope to look for any guards that stood watch. Izzy identified the two guards as Deramon and Blossomon. Agumon quickly attacked Deramon with no warning.  
"Hey!" Deramon said raising it's wings to show it meant no harm. "Do you fry any chicken you happen to see, or is there a reason you're attacking?"  
"So you don't work for Puppetmon?" Tai asked confused.  
"No we're his 'playmates' he only beats up on us for fun." Blossomon said. "But we're lucky, you should see how he treats his porcelain doll set. He keeps the poor things in a glass case and never lets them out ever. They've been in there for years!"  
"You mean the doll's alive?" Sora asked.  
"Well it's not really a doll, that's just what he calls her. Do you want me to show you?" Deramon asked. They all nodded, curious. Deramon led them into the house. He opened a door under the stairs.  
"Hey, I didn't see this door when I was running through here!" TK exclaimed.   
Deramon turned to him. "So that was you who ran past us in such a hurry?"  
"Yep, I wanted to get away and back to my real friends. You saw me?"   
"Yes I did, we didn't tell Puppetmon which way you went though."  
"Gee, thanks!" TK said. They walked down some stairs and into a dark room with few lights. In the center was a triangle like structure that looked exactly like the one Etemon had used to keep Datamon prisoner. Inside was a girl shackled to a table. There was a strange metal band with blinking lights on her head. A DigiMon lay on the floor by the girl, and around the girl's neck was a Tag and Crest!  
"She's the last Digi-Destined" Tai exclaimed.  
"Rainy!" TK shouted, running up to the glass and placing his hands on it. "Hey, wake up!"  
"You know her?" Izzy asked surprised. TK nodded quickly. Then turned back to the sleeping girl.  
"Rainy!" TK shouted again.  
"It's no use," Deramon said. "That thing on her head keeps her asleep."  
'Rainy?' Tai thought 'why does that sound familiar?' Then Tai made the connection. 'Rainy, Raina! That's Raina! Matt's Friend!' Then Tai remembered that the being that was in Kari had looked straight at Matt as she told them that the girl may not be the same after spending years alone in the Digi-world. She was warning Matt that Raina might not be the same girl he knew from before.  
"How do we get her out?" Sora asked.   
"If I hack into the control board, I should be able to pull it off." Izzy said he walked to the computer built into the wall by the door. "Then we get that thing off her and we get out of here." He plugged his computer in.  
"All right, let's do it." Tai gave the go ahead and Izzy got to work. TK stayed by Raina, watching the older girl with interest. Every once in a while he'd smirk as if he knew a secret that amused him while he hummed a song.  
"Too bad Matt isn't here he'd be so happy to see her." TK said to Tai, his eyes twinkling mischievously. Tai nodded.  
"Okay I got it!" Izzy shouted a content look on his face. "Step back for a second." They did and soon the glass was gone. Izzy walked to her side and looked at the binder. "Hmm. Oh! Got it…" he said as he worked to get the thing off. Tai stood on Raina's other side, Sora and Kari were behind him, and TK next to him. "There," the binder fell off. "She should wake up soon." Even as he said it Raina moaned and began to wake up.   
"Uh, Hi." Tai said, unable to come up with anything better to say when her dark brown eyes opened and focused on him.  
"What's going on?" She asked sleepily. Before Tai could answer TK began chattering.  
"Hi Raina, how are you? Matt's gonna be really surprised to see you! How long have you been in here."  
"TK?" Raina said when TK paused to take a breath. She looked around the room. "Where's Matt, why isn't he here, he didn't get hurt or anything did he?"   
"He's fine, right now I think he's having what you humans call a mid life crisis." Gatomon said.   
"But he's not even a teenager!" Raina exclaimed.   
Gatomon shrugged. "Well, at any rate, he went off by himself. He said he had some things to work out." By now Izzy had woken up Raina's Digi-Mon, Daggermon. And Sora handed Raina her Crest. Daggermon was Gabumon's height and looked kinda like a purple Ewok, there were two blades that came out of her arms for when she needed to attack something. Raina's Crest symbol was a star with triangles coming out from in-between the points it had a light purple color. Tai and Sora helped Raina to her feet; she was still recovering from the effects of her stay at PuppetMon's mansion.   
"Okay, now how about we finish our little tour of the mansion?" Tai suggested. Everyone nodded and they walked back upstairs. They were wandering in an upstairs hall when Kari tripped. She fell and when she did her hand brushed against a red fire truck. The siren went off and its lights began flashing. Raina quickly grabbed it and threw the bomb out the window.  
"Hit the floor!" She shouted. Everyone crouched down, and Raina covered Kari's body with her own, because she was worried that debris might hit her. After the explosion, Raina helped Kari up and said "You okay?" Kari nodded slightly shaken.  
"You saved my life! Thanks!" Kari said to the older girl.  
"No problem, I'm kinda fond of ya, kid." Raina replied.  
"Thanks." Tai said to her when they began walking again. Raina nodded.  
"Puppetmon's coming!" Blossomon shouted from the top of the stairs. "He's just coming out of the forest!"  
"Deramon, is there any way to keep him from getting in here?" Tai asked. Deramon nodded and led them to the top floor where there was a cannon pointing out a window.  
"That should keep him back for awhile." He said. "We'll handle this, you go down and get ready to fight."  
"Right!" They all said. They ran down to the front door of the house.  
"Okay, we've had it with you PuppetMon!" Tai said. "You're going down!"  
"Agumon warp Digi-volve to: Wargreymon!"  
"Biomon Digi-volve to: Birdramon!"  
"Tentomon Digi-volve to: Kabutarimon"  
"Daggermon Digi-volve to: Katanamon!"  
"If you want me come and catch me!" Puppetmon said in response to Tai's challenge. The Digi-destined were in the middle of a battle against Puppetmon. He turned and ran. The others followed him.  
"No! Don't go that way!" Raina shouted, but they didn't hear. Raina shook her head and chased after them. Suddenly DigiMon sprang form the ground around them. They were completely surrounded by Redvegimon! Kabuterimon Birdramon Angelmon and Angelwoman quickly got rid of them.   
"Agumon: Digivolve!" Tai ordered. Agumon did as he was asked.  
"Agumon warp Digivolve to: Wargreymon!" Wargreymon towered over Puppetmon. Puppetmon smiled evilly and raised his hands. Suddenly, Wargreymon was no longer in control of his own body. Controlled by Puppetmon he chased the Digidestined into the forest. Raina was running behind Tai and Kari. She heard Wargreymon say, "Keep running! I don't want to catch you!"   
"Split up!" Raina said to them. Tai nodded quickly and he and Kari headed into the forest. Raina Ran along the edge of the clearing, then she tripped on a rock that was jutting up from the ground. She landed on the ground with a small grunt, and half-turned to see Wargreymon about to slice into her. 'Oh my God' she thought 'I'm going to be killed by one of the good guys'  
"Metal Wolf Claw!" The attack hit Puppetmon from behind. Puppetmon turned to see Metalgarurumon growling angrily at him.  
Raina looked into Matt's deep indigo blue eyes as he helped her up on the other side of the clearing. "Raina," Matt said in a surprised tone of voice. "I didn't know you were a Digidestined."  
Raina shrugged her shoulders. Tai and Kari had emerged from the forest and now watched the little reunion standing by Izzy, Sora, and TK. "Surprise." Raina said simply. Matt smiled and, to everyone's amazement, gave Raina a hug. A hug that close friends would give to one another after meeting after a long time apart. Tai and the others (with the exception of TK) blinked in surprise and looked at each other from their place at the edge of the clearing. Which was quite a distance from where Raina and Matt stood. Raina drew back after a few moments and said; "As much as I am loving this reunion, bad guy" she pointed to where the battle was taking place.  
Matt blushed and replied "Oh, yeah. Metalgarurumon Go get him!" Matt shouted to his Digi-partner. The two were locked in combat, but Metalgarurumon seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Then Puppetmon did something totally unexpected. He took his hammer and moved as though to hit Metalgarurumon with it, but then turned around and aimed the blast at where Matt and Raina stood unprotected. The first exploded right in front of them. It knocked Matt back and Raina to the side. Raina got up quickly. But Matt staggered as he rose, still stunned by the attack. He had his hand on his forehead and blinked dazedly.   
Time is a very funny thing. To some it moves quickly, for others very slowly. Each person watched what happened next at a different speed. To Izzy and Sora it happened so quickly it took a moment to register. Everyone else saw it as though it had taken a million years to happen. Every moment took an eternity. Puppetmon slammed his hammer to the ground once again. Matt looked up and saw it coming, his indigo eyes widened as he saw it, but he was fast rooted to the spot. Frozen and unable to move Matt could do nothing but watch as the attack flew straight at him. Then, suddenly, Raina moved to stand in front of him. She put her arms up to shield her face. The attack slammed into her with brutal force, it hit her and blasted her backwards where Matt caught her. It knocked them both onto the ground and as he fell, Matt's head hit a rock and he blacked out. Neither of them moved after that. Sora's hands flew to her mouth in shock. Izzy found his legs could no longer support his body and he fell to his knees. Tai just stared wide-eyed dazed by the entire incident. He snapped out of it quickly when he heard Kari scream. She didn't scream one long scream; instead she let out high pitched little bursts, one right after another. Tai immediately knelt down and buried her head in his shoulder, turning her body so that all she could see was the forest that was behind him. Then Tai quickly did the same for TK, who was sobbing. Kari was screaming right into his ear but Tai still held on thinking 'the kids, take care of them now, they need you, concentrate on them now, take care of yourself later' The realization that he would make a good father occurred to him then. Kari's screams slowly wore off and then she whispered "Tai, you're holding me too hard" Tai cringed and loosened his grip on them.  
Puppetmon laughed. He laughed at Raina and Matt's still bodies; he laughed at Kari's screams and TK sobs. That was the breaking point for all the digimon. They attacked all at once. Angered by what had happened to her partner, Katanamon digivolved "Katanamon Digi-volve to Megakatanamon!" She attacked quickly. "Crescent Blade Shock!" hundreds of razor sharp crescent shaped blades pelted into Puppetmon.  
"Ice Wolf Claw!" MetalGarurumon's attack destroyed Puppetmon. Matt woke up just in time to see this happen, and sighed in relief that Puppetmon could do no more damage to anyone else. Tai and the others ran, or flew in some of the Digimon's case, to where Raina lay her head and shoulders in Matt's lap. Izzy grabbed her Digivice and plugged it into his computer. He typed in a few commands and a miniature wire frame version of Raina appeared on the screen. Red and yellow areas showed where she was wounded and a text block under it listed specific injuries. In the right corner a heart line monitored her pulse. Izzy looked at it and just shook his head slowly. TK, Kari and Sora stood near Raina's unconscious body while Angelmon and Angelwoman hovered above. Tsnomon and Raina's digimon Kanimon stood off to one side. Tai walked over to Izzy and knelt down.  
"Well? How bad is it?" He asked.  
"I don't know what's worse, internal bleeding or her broken ribs digging into her lungs. And that's not even half of it." Izzy eyes had a bleak and hopeless look in them. "There's just no…" He didn't need to finish. Tai nodded. A soft moan drew everyone's attention to the injured girl.   
"Matt? Are you alright?" Raina asked. Tears in his eyes, Matt nodded. "Good, Matt, I'm so sorry I won't be able to do that thing we were talking about during summer camp." Raina smiled bravely, tears in her eyes as well. Matt quickly spoke up.  
"No, no, you will, we'll go back to the real world together. And just think about how great things will be now that you're back. We can hang out with the rest of the Digi-destined; it won't be just us all the time now. We can go to the park and the movies. You haven't even met Mimi and Joe yet. Just hang on, things will be all right." Tears fell from Matt's indigo eyes as Raina shook her head in denial.  
"Gomen nansi," Raina said. Being in the Digiworld had made all of them grow up. Sometimes Tai forgot how old they were, they acted like adults. Right now though, as Matt cried over Raina's failing body, all those extra years forced upon him by the Digiworld slowly vanished. Now Matt was just a little boy, crying because he was going to lose his best friend. Tai began to cry, as well, so did everyone else. "Matt, promise, promise me… you won't forget… all the fun we had this summer. All of the things we did."  
"I promise." Raina smiled one last time, her soft brown eyes closed. She exhaled and her entire body seemed to deflate. Izzy watched on his computer as the pulse line went flat. "Raina? Raina? No, please, wake up. Don't do this. Please Raina, don't die on me. Please, please, please." Matt whimpered that last word over and over again. Kari and TK began sobbing as they realized that Raina was gone forever.  
'I wish there was something I could do!' Kari thought, she felt as if she had let the older girl down by not being able to do anything. 'Raina saved my life! And I couldn't save her's!'  
TK's mind was working overtime trying to absorb all the emotions that were running through his head. Sadness, for losing one of his closest friends, Raina was like a sister to him. Fear, because it occurred to him that if Raina could die, so could any of the others. And last worry, worry for his brother, and what this would do to him. Matt had enough problems already, without the loss of his best friend.   
Angelmon and Angelwoman hovered above the group. They both were able to pick up on how the children felt. Then they cried. A single silver tear fell out from under their masks and as they fell toward the ground they said one thing. "Angel's Tear's" The tears fell on Raina and when they did she was enveloped in a white light and she floated above the ground a few feet. Then one by one the children's Crests began to glow and add them selves to the white light. First TK's, then Kari, Tai, Sora, and Izzy. Matt's Crest was the last to join the others, but when it did it shone with the strongest, brightest light of all of them. Izzy realized what was happening. Angelmon and Angelwoman were using their energy, and the energy from the Crests to try to bring Raina back to life. Izzy also realized to heal all the wounds that Raina sustained they would need a lot of energy. 'Please let just the six of us be enough.' Izzy thought. Izzy saw on his computer exactly when Raina's heart began to beat once again. A few seconds later the white glow began to fade and Raina floated to the ground, still unconscious, but alive! Matt caught her in mid air; he had a dazed, happy look on his face. After Angelmon and Angelwoman de-digivolved Patamon spoke "She needs to rest and get her own life energy back up. She's still running mostly on the energy you guys gave her."  
"We could rest up in PuppetMon's mansion." Tai suggested. They nodded and began the walk back to the mansion.  
After a few seconds Tai noticed that Kari was looking at Matt, who was carrying Raina, critically. "You're going to drop her." She told him.  
"Oh," Matt shifted her in his arms slightly. Sora shook her head and walked up to Matt. She took Raina's arms and put them around Matt's neck.  
"There that should help." Matt blushed at their position as Kari and Sora exchanged knowing glances behind his back. They reached PuppetMon's house and Matt carried Raina inside.   
~~~  
Matt sat on a chair next to the bed they had laid Raina on. Matt was lost in thought, unsure of what to do now. Matt considered himself very lucky that Gabumon had been able to Digi-volve. 'Should I stay by my decision to leave?' he thought. Matt felt he had to discover exactly why Gabumon had not digiolved that one time. He knew that it had something to do with himself and his emotions, but until he figured out exactly what his problem was, he couldn't stay with the group. Of the last three attempts, Gabumon had only digivolved twice. Even one third of a chance that Gabumon couldn't fight was too large of one. Especially if TK and Raina's lives depended on it. He needed to be sure that the Digidestined could depend on him. He looked down at Raina. Would she understand? Something told him she would. He knew that if he waited until she woke up to leave he might not be able to go period. He did, however, want to say goodbye.   
Tai waited outside the room they had placed Raina in, wanting to hear about the girl's condition. TK, Kari, Sora, and Izzy had gone to sleep quite a while ago. Tai promised them he'd tell them if Raina woke up. Matt was inside the room keeping a tense watch. Tai sat down in a chair that Deramon brought for him. Just when he was about to nod off Matt stepped out of the bedroom. He had a tired look on his face as he closed the door behind him. Tai looked up hopefully.  
"She's still not awake." Matt stated. Tai felt confusion invade his features.  
"Then why are you,"  
"I'm going."  
"You not even going to wait for her to wake up?" Tai demanded disbelieving. Matt nodded. "I don't believe this!" Tai exclaimed. "She died to protect you and you're leaving without even a goodbye!" Matt gazed at the floor. "Matt, you don't have to leave."  
"Yes I do! There are some things I need to work out, I can't stay until I do." Sadness and longing radiating from his eyes, Matt looked at Tai. "TK and Raina will understand, I know they will." He headed for the door.  
"You love her, don't you?" Tai asked. Matt froze three steps away from the door.   
"How did you know?" He asked.  
"TK."  
"The little blabber mouth." Matt mumbled.  
"He didn't say anything directly, when we were getting Raina out of PuppetMon's prison, TK was humming 'Matt and Raina sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G'. You know that song. And the way you described her that one night we were talking. In fact you were going to tell me then, but you never got around to it."  
Matt nodded "Yes, I do love her. But I've still got to go." Matt now had his hand on the doorknob.  
"If you walk out that door, you'll regret it." Tai said to him.  
Without turning Matt said, "If I do, I do." Matt stepped out and Tai sighed as it shut with a click. Filled with worry for his friend, Tai stood alone in the hallway. After a few seconds he went into the bedroom and sat in the chair that Matt had been sitting in a before. Tai began to nod off.  
"Matt?" Raina's voice woke Tai up.  
'I am so not looking forward to this.' Tai thought at the prospect of telling Raina that Matt left. Tai smiled at the girl. "Hey, how are you feeling?"  
"Better, thanks. Where's Matt?"  
Tai cringed. "He left, he had some problems to work out and he left."  
Raina nodded slightly and sat up. "That would be like him." She said, a note of sadness creeping into her voice.  
"You're not mad?!" Tai exclaimed.  
"Matt's always been one to try and solve his problems by himself. I do wish he'd at least have said good bye." Raina replied. She brought a hand up and rubbed the back of her neck with it, and when she did she felt the gold chain of a necklace. One she hadn't been wearing when Tai had first seen her. A confused look crossed her face and she tugged on the chain slightly and she found a gold and crystal star pendant. She blinked then sighed contently as she realized where it came from.  
"I'm missing something, aren't I?" Tai asked.  
Raina smiled. "One time when we were little, Matt and I were playing tag with TK in the park. Matt was IT and was chasing me and he reached out to tag me, but grabbed my necklace instead. The chain broke and the pendant fell off. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking for it but couldn't find it. I was so mad at Matt I refused to talk to him. Pretty soon I had to go home so I left without my pendant." She fingered the charm on the necklace. "Matt must have gone back later to find it, because this is the same one I lost that day, the chain is new though. I guess leaving this for me was his way of saying goodbye."  
Tai nodded. "You two are going out aren't you?"  
"Yeah, our first date was at summer camp. We snuck out after lights out and went and talked all night by the river. It was so romantic. Matt's idea, if you can believe that."  
"It's a stretch, why don't you go back to sleep, I gotta go tell Kari and the rest you woke up anyway."  
Raina nodded. "Goodnight Tai." She said as he walked out.  
"Goodnight Raina."   
~~~  
AN: So how'd you like it? Took me forever, but that's okay. The folowing clip is from when Raina gets her first opportunity to talk to Matt without a battle raging around them. And she was kinda lying when she told Tai she wasn't mad at Matt for leaving. I just pictured this little scene but didn't have enough for a whole story.  
Till next time,   
Alita   
  
Clip  
Raina: (Shoving Matt backwards) I can't believe you! (another shove) You're so Insensitive! (Shove) I can't believe that you (shove) didn't trust (shove) me to understand! (Hse shoves him one more time and he falls into the lake backwards. He sits there in the shallow water for a few seconds, thinking then he gets out and walks up to Raina. Then falls to one knee)   
Matt: (begging on his knees) please don't kill me! Please, please don't kill me! Ya know I love ya baby, I'd never leave ya, it wasn't my fault! I had a flat tire! I didn't have enough money for cab fare! My tux didn't come back form the cleaners! An old friend came from out of town! There was an earthquake, a terrible flood, locusts! But it wasn't my fault I swear to GOOOOOODDDDD!!!!!!! (Pretends to take off imaginary sunglasses and then stares pityingly up at Raina)   
Raina: It's sad that you memorized that entire thing.  
Matt: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we've got a full tank of gas half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.  
Raina: Sad, sad, sad. (Puts hand over her eyes, Matt looks at TK and winks and smiles)  
Matt: (Singing) Let me tell you about Minnie the Moocher. She was a low down hoochi coocher.  
Raina: (Blushing and trying not to smile) Oh god.  
TK: (To Tai) I give her one more minute before she melts.  
Raina: TK!!!!  
  
AN: Yes, the Blues Brothers is Raina's favorite movie. No, the story won't be in script format, even though the clip is.  



End file.
